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The Justice Department is urging a federal judge not to unseal the names of two associates of Jeffrey Epstein who received large payments from the disgraced financier in 2018, citing privacy concerns raised by the individuals themselves.
In a filing made public Friday, prosecutors said both associates — one paid $100,000 and the other $250,000 — explicitly objected to their identities being revealed. The payments began just days after the Miami Herald published a bombshell series reexamining Epstein’s controversial 2008 plea deal in Florida.
“Their names and personal identifying information should remain sealed,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton of the Southern District of New York wrote in a Sept. 5 letter to U.S. District Judge Richard Berman. “Individual-1 and Individual-2 are uncharged third parties who have not waived their privacy interests.”
Payments tied to 2008 plea deal
Court records show both associates had been named as potential co-conspirators in Epstein’s nonprosecution agreement (NPA) with Florida prosecutors, which shielded them from criminal charges.
Federal prosecutors in New York flagged the 2018 transfers as evidence of possible witness tampering, writing in a 2019 bail memorandum that Epstein may have been trying to influence co-conspirators as his past came under renewed scrutiny.
One recipient, prosecutors said, was prominently featured in the Herald’s series. The other was later identified in Epstein’s federal indictment as an employee who allegedly helped schedule encounters between the financier and underage girls at his Manhattan and Palm Beach properties.
“The timing suggests the defendant was attempting to further influence co-conspirators who might provide information against him,” prosecutors wrote in 2019.
NBC News pushes for transparency
Epstein was arrested in July 2019 on sex trafficking charges but died weeks later in a Manhattan jail cell, a death ruled a suicide. Since then, legal fights have continued over how much of the record should be unsealed.
NBC News petitioned Berman last month to reveal the two names, arguing that Epstein’s death and the Justice Department’s decision not to pursue additional charges eliminate the need for secrecy.
Prosecutors countered that the individuals’ letters of objection remain sealed and that revealing their identities would unfairly expose uncharged parties.
Berman has given NBC News until Sept. 12 to respond. It is unclear when he will issue a ruling.
